Theocast
The Suspicion of Experience
July 2, 2025
Summary
In Reformed circles, we can be wary of the word experience—often for good reason. Emotional manipulation and manufactured moments have led many to question what’s truly spiritual. But Scripture is clear: God promises His supernatural presence in the gathering of His people. Church is an encounter with the living God—a true spiritual experience where our souls are fed and refreshed. In this episode, we explore how God meets us in real, tangible ways and why we should expect to walk away encouraged by Him.
Topics
- Reformed wariness of “experience” after emotional manipulation
- God’s promised presence in the gathering of His people
- Real spiritual encounter where souls are fed and refreshed
Links
- Grace Reformed Network
- More Than Forgiven — Justin Perdue
- Theocast Community
- Rest — free ebook on faith vs. faithfulness
- Partner with Theocast
Transcript
Edited machine transcript — may contain errors
[00:00:00]If you're familiar with anything about traditional Orthodoxy or specifically Reformed theology, we can be a little allergic to the word experience.
[00:00:09]Rightfully so.
[00:00:10]It's been tampered with, and we have used all kinds of non-supernatural means to try and create spiritual experiences.
[00:00:17]And it's really hard to determine: is this spiritual or am I just being emotionally manipulated?
[00:00:22]We don't want to go so far that we forget the fact that the Bible is very clear.
[00:00:28]There are promises of God's supernatural presence coming to us in the church, and it is an encounter with the living God.
[00:00:36]It becomes a spiritual experience in ways in which our soul is fed.
[00:00:40]That's what this episode is about.
[00:00:41]How do we look to scripture and think to ourselves, yes, I can have my soul refreshed?
[00:00:47]It is a spiritual experience.
[00:00:49]And what's the difference between this and something like maybe spiritual disciplines.
[00:00:54]It's a kind of a long conversation, but the gist of it is this: we want you to believe that your God wants to encourage you and gather with you and be with you, and in the end of the
[00:01:06]day, you do walk away refreshed.
[00:01:08]You do walk away having an experience with your God.
[00:01:11]Stay tuned.
[00:01:12]Hey, guys, this is Justin.
[00:01:14]Maybe you know that you are forgiven because of Jesus Christ, but you're wondering, what does Jesus have to do with my Christian life?
[00:01:23]How is He involved in my sanctification, even?
[00:01:27]Or is He concerned at all with the ways that I struggle and the way that my life goes up and down.
[00:01:32]Is there any comfort for me in Jesus when it comes to all of that?
